The increasing perception of risk of infection of medical personnel by contact with patients body fluids has led to various measures in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of infection. There is particular concern over the possibility of transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immuno deficiency virus (HIV) to health workers in the course of their patient care duties. In the case of surgeons and other theatre workers, needle stick injuries are relatively common and surgical gloves do not provide complete protection. In one recent study it was found that in 54% of caesarean sections, one or more glove punctures were found to have occurred to the surgeon's gloves. Attempts have been made to reduce the puncture rate, for example, by adopting a practice of double-gloving and using blunt-tipped needles. While blunt tipped needles do reduce the number of punctures, perhaps by a factor of about 1.5, the rate of puncturing is still unacceptably high.